ORION TWP. — Seventeen senior athletes signed letters of intent at Lake Orion High School on Dec. 17 to play sports at the collegiate level.

The athletes represent eight sports – swimming, lacrosse, soccer, football, baseball, cross country, dance and track and field.

“Congratulations to all of you on joining a small group of high school athletes around the country that get the opportunity to pursue their athletic careers while pursuing their educa­tion,” LOHS Athletic Director Chris Bell said.

Several coaches joined Bell to in­troduce the athletes honored last week

Swimming

Briana Hernandez will swim for Wayne State University where she plans to study biochemistry or chemi­cal biology. Hernandez scored a team-leading 218 points this season, finished first 11 times, was a key member of LOHS’s state team, and is fourth all time in school history for the 50-meter freestyle event.

Maddox LaMothe will continue his swimming career at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and study music education. LaMoth will be a sprint freestyle and breast stroke specialist at St. Olaf Col­lege. He has scored 149 points, finished first 12 times and is a league champion in the 100-meter breast stroke event at LOHS.

Lacrosse

JC McClung will play lacrosse at Saginaw Valley State University. McClung has been a varsity starter at Lake Orion since her sophomore year, scored 27 points during her junior year, and will be a captain during her senior season.

Brielle Coventry will play la­crosse at Lewis University in Illinois where she will study aviation admin­istration. Coventry has also been a varsity player since her sophomore year, has scored 75 goals, and was named to the all-state third team in 2025 and to the all-OAA Red team.

Curtis Meech will continue his lacrosse career at Lake Erie College, and began playing lacrosse for Lake Orion Community schools 10 years ago. Head lacrosse coach Chris Wood said Meech is a vocal leader and a reliable, lead-by-example defender.

Quentin Rohlfing will play la­crosse for Kalamazoo College. In his three years playing LOHS lacrosse, Wood said Rohlfing es­tablished himself as a relentless competitor, a quick learner in the mid-field, and said Rohlfing is a hard-working individual.

Soccer

Brooke Armstrong will play soccer at Michigan Technological University where she will study biochemistry. Armstrong earned district and league honors during the spring and is a fierce competitor that LOHS is thankful to have on their team, head varsity coach Amanda Hutchinson said.

Lilly Brodoski will play soccer for Calvin University where she will study politics, philosophy and eco­nomics. She has been on LOHS’s soccer team since her freshman year, earned league honors her sopho­more and junior years, along with the OAA Sportsmanship Award, and is a versatile player who can contribute in many positions on the field, Hutchinson said.

Football

Leo Cassell will play football at Alma College and study biology. A defensive and offensive lineman, Bell called Cassell a smart player who knows the game, and said he works hard, is unselfish, and was willing to play what­ever role his team needed.

Brody Thompson will play football for Northwood University where he will pursue a business degree. Thompson predominantly played quarterback for the Dragons, is a threat running and throwing the football and won a leader­ship award last season, Bell said.

Alex Hensley will also play football at Northwood University. A starting in­side linebacker, Bell described Hensley as an old-fashioned, Orion-tough physi­cal football player. Hensley was also a captain last season, led the Dragons in tackles for the last two seasons and was selected to the all-league team and all-region first team this season.

Ryan Rocheleau will play football for Western Michigan University. Bell called Rocheleau the best tight end in Lake Orion History. Rocheleau caught 30 passes for more than 500 yards and five touchdowns, was selected to the all-league first team and all-region first team and was a team captain.

Baseball

Ozzie Schons will play baseball at Alpena Community College where he will study mathematics. Head varsity baseball coach Andy Schramek said Schons chose Alpena Community Col­lege for its culture.

Riley Bendle will play baseball at Kellogg Community College and pursue a career as a doctor. Schramek said Kellogg Community College will give Bendle the chance to develop as a player for two years before transferring to a university.

Dance

Samantha O’Kronley will dance at Alma College where she plans to study sports medicine. O’Kronley has been in Lake Orion’s dance program since seventh grade, and was described as always dependable and hardworking by a teammate.

Cross country and track and field

Max Houvener will be running cross country and competing in track and field at Oakland University. Hou­vener qualified for the state finals in the 3,200-meter relay his freshman year, and finished no lower than 10th in any race over the last two years, except for at the state finals, varsity coach Andrew McDonald said.

Mikaela Redman will be compet­ing in track and field at Northwood University. McDonald called Redman a very versatile athlete, and a leader in the school’s track-and-field program for the last four years.

Utah State women’s volleyball head coach Rob Neilson has been hired by BYU, ending his six-year tenure with the Aggies. BYU announced the hiring on social media Tuesday afternoon.

Neilson is an alum of BYU, having played for the Cougars’ men’s volleyball team from 2003-06 as a setter. He also spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the men’s team at BYU, even serving as its interim coach in 2011.

Utah State hired Neilson in 2020, following a 2019 season where the Aggies had gone a program-worst 2-28. USU went 5-10 in Neilson’s first season but then went on to win Mountain West titles in three straight seasons from 2021-24.

This season the Aggies not only won both the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament titles, they went undefeated in conference play and in the conference tournament, capping off what was ultimately a 22-game winning streak with a first-round upset victory in the NCAA Tournament against Tennessee.

Neilson ends his tenure at Utah State with an overall record of 112-59, winning three regular season Mountain West championships, two conference tournaments and winning MW Coach of the Year three times. He also took USU to four NCAA Tournaments with a record of 1-3 in those games.

In a statement, Utah State Director of Athletics Cam Walker expressed thanks to Neilson for his tenure.

“I am grateful for Rob’s leadership of our volleyball program, including multiple conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances,” Walker said. “The profile of Utah State volleyball has been elevated and we expect that standard to continue under new leadership. We will be efficient and aggressive in our pursuit of the next leader of Utah State volleyball and will begin an immediate national search.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida volleyball announced the addition of setter Bri Denney to the Gators’ 2026 roster.

After earning her BBA in business management from Baylor, Denney will join the program as a graduate transfer in spring 2026 and pursue her master’s in business entrepreneurship.

“In our search for a setter, Bri jumped off the page as the perfect fit for us,” said Florida Head Coach Ryan Theis. “She is a great teammate, great student with starting and coming off the bench experience in high level power 4 volleyball.  We are excited to get her in the gym in January.”

“I chose the University of Florida because of the program’s history of national success, outstanding facilities and resources and the opportunity to compete in the SEC,” Denney said. “The coaching staff is exceptional and I’m excited to continue to grow as a student athlete and a person under their leadership. Campus is beautiful and I have the opportunity to be near my brother. It truly felt like the perfect fit. Grateful for this next chapter, go Gators!”

Denney is the fifth newcomer to join the Gators for the 2026 campaign. Florida previously signed incoming freshman opposite/outside hitter Nadi’ya Shelby and announced the addition of three transfers last week: outside hitter Kamryn “Kami” Chaney, middle blocker Brianna “Bri” Holladay and outside hitter Selena Leban.

 

Bri Denney

• Position: Setter
• Class: Graduate Student
• Height: 6-0
• Hometown: San Marcos, California
• Previous Teams: Baylor
• High School: Santa Fe Christian School

At Baylor
Honors:

• 2023 Academic All-Big 12 First Team

2025 (Redshirt Junior): Played 50 sets across 15 matches with five starts … Opened the season with a career-high 31 assists in a 3-1 win over South Alabama (8/29) … Followed up with 29 assists in a 5-set win over No. 10 SMU (8/30) … Tallied 20 assists win a 3-1 road win at LSU (8/31) … Returned from injury to distribute 15 assists at No. 8 Arizona State (10/8) … Had 16 assists against No. 12 Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
2024 (Redshirt Sophomore): Traveled with the Bears and played in the Foreign Tour matches in Austria, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia in June 2024 … Came into the match against No. 22 TCU to set (10/6).
 
2023 (Sophomore): Saw action in three matches on the season … Played in two sets against No. 7 Minnesota in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge … Played against No. 19 Ohio State … Saw action in one set against Stephen F. Austin … Did not see action for the rest of the season due to injury, redshirted.
 
2022 (Freshman): Her first season with the Bears … Dealt with injury for the first part of the season … Saw action in three sets across two matches.
 
High School: Bri grew up in San Diego, CA where she played volleyball since the age of 10 at Southern California’s top two clubs; Wave and Coast. She played on their 1s teams every year with the exception of 11s & 14s, when she played on the 2s. Her teams always played in the highest divisions at the USA National Championships, placing 1st in the National division on her 13-1s team and 5th in the Open division on her 15-1s team. Bri has been trained by top club coaches and was privileged to train closely in her high school years with Fiapo Guilherme Tenius, (7x Olympic medalist coach for Brazil, US & Canada). She graduated from Santa Fe Christian School in 2022. In high school, she was First Team All-League, won second place in Division I, named Varsity Invitational Classic All-Tournament Team, and was Team Captain… In 2019 she and her team finished third in the Coastal League and second in DI postseason;  in 2021, they finished second in the league and sixth in DI Postseason … Bri was named National Honors Society, Principal’s Honor Roll, California Scholarship Federation Gold Seal Bearer and an Academic Letterwinner. In addition, she was a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes while dedicating a lot of her time to volunteering.
 
Personal: First name is Brianna but goes by “Bri” … Daughter of Monica and Robb Denney … Father, Robb, played rugby at the national level for the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) on their Super League Team. She has one older brother, Colin, who played baseball at Biola University his freshman year, as a catcher, then graduated from Liberty University after transferring and is now an Investment Advisor in Tampa, FL.
 
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Gray’s Creek’s Taylor Baggett’s senior season was one for the record books.

The Bears’ outside hitter and defensive specialist capped her high school career with a dominant final season that helped Gray’s Creek get to put together a ground-breaking year as the first high school volleyball team in school and county history to make it to an NCHSAA Final Four.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – St. Olaf College recorded its second-highest-ever finish in the fall standings of the Learfield Directors’ Cup by placing 15th out of 429 NCAA Division III institutions, as the standings were announced on Tuesday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

St. Olaf accumulated 241.0 points – its second-highest total ever in the fall – to rank 15th out of the 178 NCAA Division III institutions who earned points this fall. The initial release of the standings included all of the fall results except for the championship game of the NCAA Division III Football Championship. Neither of the institutions competing in the football title game can surpass St. Olaf regardless of the outcome of that game.

The Learfield Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based athletics program, awarding points based on each institution’s national finishes in the NCAA Championships. This fall, St. Olaf’s men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, and women’s volleyball teams contributed to St. Olaf’s point total.

Men’s soccer earned 83 points by advancing to the national semifinals for the second time in program history. Men’s cross country collected 63 points thanks to its 13th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Volleyball added 50 points with its second-round appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship, while women’s cross country picked up 45 points after placing 29th nationally.

This year marked the sixth consecutive fall that St. Olaf has finished among the top 30 institutions in NCAA Division III, with the 15th-place finish being one spot shy of the t-14th finish in 1996-97 for the highest in school history. It was also St. Olaf’s sixth top-20 and eighth top-25 fall finish in the history of the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which first included NCAA Division III in 1995-96.

LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego Director of Athletics Andy Fee has announced the hiring of Spencer McLachlin as the Tritons’ new women’s volleyball head coach. McLachlin becomes the eighth head coach in program history. The 2026 season will mark UC San Diego’s final in The Big West before the program transitions to the West Coast Conference prior to the 2027 campaign.
 
“Spencer brings exactly what we need at this moment. He’s helped build winning programs, developed All-Americans, and knows how to compete at the highest level,” Fee said. “His playing career at Stanford and coaching experience at Hawaii, Cal, UCLA, Indiana, and USC give him a deep understanding of what championship volleyball looks like in major conferences. But what really stood out was his approach to the whole scholar-athlete experience. He gets what we’re building here at UC San Diego as we establish ourselves in Division I and look ahead to the West Coast Conference. Our scholar-athletes are going to love playing for him, and I’m confident he’ll have this program competing for championships.” 

McLachlin recently completed his third season as an associate head coach for the USC women’s volleyball program. He helped lead the Women of Troy to 25 wins, a fourth-place finish in the ultra-competitive Big Ten, and an NCAA second round appearance. The 2025 team placed six on all-conference teams. In 2024, the Trojans advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and finished 22-10 overall with a 13-7 mark in the Big Ten (tied for sixth). Setter Mia Tuaniga was named to the AVCA All-America third team. In his first season with the Women of Troy, McLachlin helped USC go 19-13 with a 12-8 mark in Pac-12 matches for a fifth-place finish. Outside hitter Skylar Fields was honored with AVCA All-America first-team recognition.

 

“I am thrilled to join UC San Diego as the Head Coach of the women’s volleyball program,” McLachlin said. “This is an incredible opportunity for my family and me to be part of an historic and beautiful university and build a program with great potential. I want to thank Andy Fee for trusting my family and me with this role, for his commitment to supporting the future of Triton athletics, and for his vision of the volleyball program specifically. His leadership and commitment to excellence make this an exciting time to be part of the UC San Diego athletic department. Go Tritons!”

Previously, McLachlin served as the associate head coach at Indiana in 2022 where he was responsible for coordinating the defense and blocking. The Hoosiers were 16-16 and went 9-11 in the Big Ten to finish eighth in the conference standings. IU’s nine conference victories were its most since 2010 and the team had its highest finish since the Big Ten expanded to 14 teams (2014).

 

Prior to Indiana, McLachlin was an assistant coach for the UCLA men’s volleyball program for four years, from 2018-2021. He has also had experience coaching at the international level with the U.S. men’s national team where he was on staffs for squads which competed in the Pan American Cup and NORCECA Champions cup.

 

Before he joined the UCLA men’s program, McLachlin spent two seasons (2016-17) as an assistant coach at California for the Golden Bears’ women’s team. In 2017, he was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 list, an honor presented to up-and-coming coaching talents across all levels of volleyball. McLachlin got his start in coaching as an assistant for the men’s volleyball program at Hawai’i. During his time with the Warriors, the team earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 seasons.

 

As a student-athlete, McLachlin competed at Stanford from 2008-11 as an outside hitter. He won a national championship with the Cardinal in 2010 and finished his career among the program’s all-time leaders in kills with 1,288. McLachlin was a senior captain, an All-MPSF second team selection, and received MPSF all-academic team recognition three times.

 

McLachlin graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 2011 and completed a Master of Education in 2012 while serving as a club coach for the Bay-to-Bay Volleyball Club.

 

As a professional athlete, McLachlin was an outside hitter for Mas NIKI Aiginio in Greece for three years from 2012 to 2014.

 

McLachlin and his wife Diane have three children: daughters Leila and Malia, and a son, Koa.

 

About UC San Diego Athletics

After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.